Binuclear Complexes From Tetraimidazole Ligands and Zinc(II) Ions

Abstract

The design and synthesis of the new ligand bbn, which contains two bisimidazole coordination sites, separated by a 2,6-disubstituted naphthalene, is reported. In the presence of zinc(II), the ligand forms a 2:2 complex, whose structure has been studied by variable-temperature n.m.r. spectroscopy. In CD₃OD and CD₃CN, the spectra have been assigned to a mixture of labile [2+2] complexes which interchange through solvent coordination. In the presence of copper(II), a clean 2:2 complex does not form, while silver(I) or cadmium(II) did not interact with bbn.